2. The Concise Oxford Thesaurus defines a pilot study as
on experimental exploratory, test, preliminary, trial or
try out investigation.
A trial study carried out before a research design is
finalized to assist in defining the research question or to
test the feasibility, reliability & validity of the proposed
study design.
A small scale study conducted to test the plan &
method of a research study
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3. Pilot test is a trial collection of data to detect
weaknesses in design and instrument and
provide proxy data for selection of a
probability sample.
Pretesting is intended to reveal errors in the
design.
Pretesting permits refinement before the final
test.
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4. Main Reasons :
1. Process : This assesses the feasibility of the process
that are key to the success of the main study
2. Resources : This deals with assessing time & resource
problems that can occur during the main study.
3. Management : This covers potential human & data
management problems.
4. Scientific : This deals with the assessment of the
response, effect & variance of the effect
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5. 1. Developing & testing adequacy of research instrument
2. Assessing the feasibility of a full scale study /survey
3. Establishing whether the sampling frame & technique are
effective collecting preliminary data.
4. Determining what resources are needed for a planned
study
5. Assessing the proposed data analysis techniques to
uncover potential problems.
6. Developing a research question & research plan.
7. Convincing funding bodies & other stakeholders that the
main study is worth supporting.
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6. A pilot study is a small study designed to gather
information prior to a larger study, in order to improve
the quality of final study.
A pilot study can reveal deficiencies in the design of a
proposed research proposal.
A good research strategy requires careful planning & a
pilot study often is a part of this strategy.
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7. It permits preliminary testing of hypothesis that leads to
testing more precise hypotheses in the main study. It may
lead to changing some hypotheses, dropping some or
developing new hypotheses.
It often provides the researcher with ideas, approaches &
clues the researcher may not have foreseen before
conducting the pilot study. Such ideas & clues increase the
chances of getting clearer findings in the main study.
It permits a thorough check of the planned statistical &
analytical procedures, giving a researcher a chance to
evaluate their usefulness to the data. The researcher may
then be able to make needed alterations in the data
collecting methods & therefore analyze data in the main
study more efficiently.
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8. It can greatly reduce the number of unanticipated
problems because the researcher have all opportunity to
redesign parts of his/her study to overcome difficulties
that the pilot study reveals.
It may save lot of time & money. The pilot study almost
always provides enough data for the researcher to decide
whether to go ahead with the main study.
In the pilot study, the researcher may try out a number of
alternative measures & then select those that produce the
clearest results for the cleanest results for the main study.
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9. The less research experience the student has, the more
she/he is likely to benefit from a pilot study.
Because of that possibility, the student should attempt a
pilot study whenever possible.
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10. Possibility of making inaccurate predictions or
assumptions on the basis of pilot data.
Completing a pilot study successfully is not a guarantee
of the success of the full scale survey. Although pilot
study findings may offer some indication of the likely
size of response rate in the main survey, they cannot
guarantee this because they do not have a statistical
foundation & are nearly always based on small
numbers
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11. A further concern is that of contamination. This may arise
in two ways :
a) Where data from pilot study are included in the
main results
b) Where pilot study are included in the main study,
but new data are collected from these people.
A more common problem is deciding whether to include
pilot study participants in the main study.
Problems may also arise where a pilot study requires
significant investment & resources, making it difficult for
the study team or researcher to call a halt to the research
after an unsuccessful pilot study.
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